Screw It, We're Just Gonna Talk About Comics

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Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: Trencher Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

We close out our season on writer/artist Keith Giffen with a look at another of his creator-owned series: Trencher. Trencher is another crack of the "Lobo" type -- a hyperviolent cynical tough guy who takes missions in which he has to kill lots of people. Trencher is less of a satire than Lobo -- and the world is more specific. He is a reincarnated soul who must hunt down other reincarnated souls. A Blade Runner of reincarnated people. And his targets tend to be ludicrous: a guy whose super power is controlling his nose hairs, someone who can vomit with pinpoint accuracy, and Elvis Presley split into four bodies (a la Superman, after his early 90s "death.") HIs art is different yet AGAIN -- looking like a combination of late 80s Giffen and Geoff Darrow. A fun, specific biting series that deserved more time -- a fitting end to our study of a great storyteller.

Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: The Great Darkness Saga Jan 31, 2024

Show notes

We go back towards the beginning of Keith Giffen's career, when he was "just" an artist. Specifically we examine his work with writer Paul Levitz on the 1983 Legion of Super-Heroes story "The Great Darkness Saga." This 5-issue story showed The Legion facing super powerful "shadow villains" who seemed to be clones of people from the distrant past. When it's revealed to be Darkseid --- it was one of the first times a character from Jack Kirby's New Gods came into the DC proper in a major way. The story was also epic in scope, had huge surprises and full of great character moments. Though it's more traditional than much of Giffen's later work, it's masterfully done. We assume Giffen was helping with the plotting here (he would soon be credited as a co-plotter on upcoming issues). We can see Keith learning lessons he would apply in the Annihilation mini-seres that we covered two episodes ago. His art is very traditional in this story, though we see a few glimpses of the abstract experimental style that he would adopt in a few years.

Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: Hero Squared (w J.M. DeMatteis) Jan 24, 2024

Show notes

We continue our Keith Giffen coverage with a look at the creator-owner property he did in the 2000s, Hero Squared. Keith did this with his Justice League collaborator J.M. DeMatteis. J.M. was kind enough to be on this episode! We ask J.M. about Keith in general, his collaboration with Keith and then we get into the series Hero Squared. Hero Squared is the story of Milo Stone, an unproductive aspiring filmmaker who learns that his alternate universe self is a superhero. As the series progresses, the characters -- the two Milos -- talk argue and cooperate with each other as they become friends. There's lots of humor, action and commentary on the superhero genre as we go. And this was long before multiverse fever ran through the comics industry!

Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: Annihilation Jan 17, 2024

Show notes

Keith Giffen does mainstream crossover event, and does it well. Here we cover the 2006 epic war story that is Annihilation. The brainchild of editor Andy Schmidt along with Giffen, this story features the "cosmic characters" in the Marvel lineup. Galactus and Silver Surfer? You know it. Thanos. Of course. Rohan? Yep. And a star turn for the main villain, who is not much of a surprise when you think about the title of this series. This series also leads very directly to the creation of the modern Guardians of the Galaxy. But back to cosmic folks: Giffen's writing is fun and crisp and tells an epic tale. But for the real gem, we suggest the Drax mini-series that preceded the main event.

Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: The Heckler Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

What if a superhero acted mostly like Bugs Bunny? We now take you to another Milksop favorite: The Heckler. Though it was cancelled after only six issues because of low sales, The Heckler has always been a beloved cult favorite, espeically for fans of Giffen. Kevin has loved this series since it first came out! Will didn't read it until after Kevin raved about it for the 100th time or so, but he also respects it. The Heckler is a superhero with no specific powers, origin story or explanation. What we are told is he is the owner of a diner in Delta City, who is tired of the various mob gangs running his town. There is humor in this story, a remarkably rich world, a demanding narrative style and generous helpings of meta jokes. The Milksops think Keith had Steve Ditko on his mind with The Heckler, but they do tend to think that about everyone. Join us for this deep dive into a commercial flop, critical darling - The Heckler!

Milksops Holiday Episode: Watching Batman Movies Jan 03, 2024

Show notes

The THREE Milksop brothers (Will, Kevin and Brian) are home for the holidays and thus record an ep in person. They have a tradition of watching Batman movies together, which sprung out of their shared beloved experience of seeing the 1989 Tim Burton movie together on opening night in Danbury CT. Listen as we reminisce about lots of brother-bonding movie watching! Somehow we make a lot of Rodney Dangerfield references in this ep and they are: not relevant!

Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: Lobo #1-4 Dec 27, 2023

Show notes

Part ultraviolent anti hero, part parody of ultraviolent anti hero, Lobo was a phenomenon. Originally a side character in the Omega Men, this creation of Keith Giffen went on to become one of the more recognizable characters in the DC universe. In the 90s, he led his own books and made appearances everywhere. He even showed up in the kid-friendly tv show The Adventures of Superman, which is sort of like the gang from Clockwork Orange showing up in Scooby-Doo. We look at the four issue self-titled mini-series from the 1990s. We like him, and appreciate that even this mainstream hit (kinda) has lots of Giffen weirdness and demanding story wrapped around him. Email us at screwitcomics@gmail.com and make sure to join the #screwitinstapush

Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: Legion Five Years Later Dec 20, 2023

Show notes

We continue looking at the career of writer/artist Keith Giffen. This week we look at his "Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later" story. Starting from their creation in the late 1950s, the Legion of Super Heroes stories were sunny and optimistic. After all, these were teen heroes in the future who had been inspired by the (relative to their time) ancient story of Superman. Giffen had even been an artist and sometimes plotter of a run on this title in the early 1980s. But in 1989, Giffen led the characters into a big tonal shift. "Five Years Later" sees the team broken up, demoralized, often refusing their superhero names. The world has become dystopian, with an evil police state running things. A huge shift, and a fascinating and great story. We cover the first issue of this run.

Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: Ambush Bug (1985 mini-series) Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

We begin our examination of acclaimed comics writer/artist Keith Giffen. Perhaps most famous as a co-creator of the 1980s run of Justice League (the "B players" era), Giffen also either created or massively influenced: Lobo, Legion of Super Heroes, Rocket Raccoon (and kinda sorta Guardians of the Galaxy), the modern Blue Beetle and much more. This episode, we're looking at Ambush Bug. Specifically a 4 issue mini series that came out in 1985. The Bug knew he was in a comic, made very inside baseball references to the comics industry, and was a hit with the young Milksops. Ambush Bug stories aren't just funny, they are ambitious comics that jump around different genres, skip around in time and space, refuse to hold the reader's hand --- all the while being genuinely funny. The Bug brought out the maverick in Giffen, and this mini series is a genuine joy. Email us at screwitcomics@gmail.com

Spider-Man 2 Video Game Discussion Nov 29, 2023

Show notes

THWIP! We go deep -- too deep? -- on the new Spider-Man 2 video game. The Milksops were big fans of the first one. In fact, they each bought Playstations in 2018 just so they could play it! They generally like the new one a lot. But there are shortcomings that kind of HAVE to come with the sequel --- the great stuff isn't new anymore. But there's also lots of new fun stuff. Highlights: playing as Venom, some genuinely suspenseful story moments, a few great Miles hero moments and a surprisingly moving return of the pigeon-loving Spider-friend Howard.

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